The last big stop before the Copperbox saw the arrival of MJF to a packed York Hall – as the AEW American champion took on Michael Oku.
Quick Results
Gideon Grey pinned Dan Magee in 15:30
Leon Slater pinned Jack Cartwheel in 13:29 (**½)
TK Cooper & Chuck Mambo pinned Brendan White & Danny Jones, Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima and David Francisco & Goldenboy Santos in 9:34 (***¼)
Zozaya defeated Ricky Knight Jr. via referee stoppage in 12:00
Dani Luna pinned Nina Samuels to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Championship in 15:49 (***)
Donovan Dijak pinned Robbie X in 11:07 (***½)
Luke Jacobs pinned Trevor Lee in 11:43 (***¾)
MJF pinned Michael Oku to retain the AEW American Championship in 27:24 (***¼)
— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com
We’re live in a packed and sweltering York Hall for this one… and it’s an unwelcome return to the bar queues of yonder for those who were present. Commentary for the show comes from Andy Quildan and Leyton Buzzard.
The show opened with a tribute to James Castle, following his passing this past June. A moving speech from Andy Quildan gave way to testimonials from many associated with the Portsmouth School of Wrestling – including the likes of Joshua James, Shaun Jackson, Ken Halfpenny and Andy Simmonz – along with Gideon Grey and Dan Magee.
The entire locker room emptied onto the stage for a ten-bell salute, as Zoe Lucas brought out James’ old ring jacket and one of the Rev Pro tag title belts that he’d won at York Hall in 2015. From there, we moved into the opening match, between two of James’ best friends…
Gideon Grey vs. Dan Magee
Commentary for the opener came from Andy Quildan and Rob Lias, to complete the throwback feel… and let me tell you, if all you’ve ever seen is Gideon in gear like he’s gotta rush off for polo afterwards, you’re in for a big surprise.
They kept this one simple – no need to reinvent the wheel and all that – with the crowd being fully on board. Of course, Gideon being the bad guy, it didn’t take long for him to revert to type, biting away at Magee to escape a hold, before he threatened to walk out on the match… except it was just a ruse to punt Dan low in the aisleway.
Magee’s quickly able to hit back with a suplex on the rampway, before a Michinoku driver back inside almost won it… but Gideon’s turns it back around with a double stomp after a rare trip up top. Going back to the Mad Kurt playbook, Magee’s able to land a Codebreaker out of the corner, before the pair exchanged a series of palm strikes… leading to a Busaiku knee and a brainbuster from Gideon, ahead of a final Busaiku knee a la James Castle for the win. Afterwards, Gideon made a point of giving his Castle-inspired jacket to Will Kaven, so keep an eye on that going forth. This match, much like life, is what you make it. You’d have had to have had a glass eye not to have been moved by everything here.
Leyton Buzzard replaced Rob Lias on commentary for the remainder of the show…
Cruiserweight Scramble Qualifier: Jack Cartwheel vs. Leon Slater
A spot in the six-way scramble at the Copperbox was on the line here – providing Leon’s first clear shot at regaining the Cruiserweight title he lost back in March.
This was Cartwheel’s Rev Pro (and European) update, having mostly worked in the US (and a few tours of Japan too.) After some fun with cartwheels early on, Slater launched Cartwheel out of the corner as he looked to make a dent in things… only to get caught with a cartwheel into an enziguiri.
Slater tried to catch out Cartwheel with a superplex, but it’s fought off as Slater eventually hung up Cartwheel in the ropes before a clothesline took Leon outside for a Sasuke special… because Cartwheel! For me though, this quickly boiled down into a popular Slater taking on someone who the crowd weren’t that familiar with – and someone whose shine seemed to dissipate quickly, almost around the time he took a nasty spill, rebounding off the middle rope.
Those cartwheels looked to catch out Jack as he flipped his way into a roll-up from Leon, before a corkscrew press off the top was countered into a cutter from Leon on the way down. Slater continued to shine with a flip dive from the ring to the floor on Cartwheel, before a swanton 450 punched Leon’s ticket to the Copperbox. This was fine, but I have a feeling there’s a much better match in them. **½
David Francisco & Goldenboy Santos vs. Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima) vs. Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper)
The rules and stipulations to this tense match almost took as long as the introductions… on our hands here was a four-way tag team match for a shot at the Grizzled Young Veteran’s tag titles at the Copperbox… taking place under lucha rules… with Sunshine Machine having to disband were they unsuccessful here. Got all that?
The presence of old school beach balls for Chuck Mambo (and an entrance jacket from back-in-the-day for TK Cooper) left many wondering whether this was just them digging deep for a potential last York Hall outing as a team, or worse, a potential last outing as a team, full stop.
It was a wild outing from the off, with teams spilling outside as the ring became almost a revolving door of wrestlers. Outside of Sunshine Machine, the main threads revolved around Young Blood, who had beef with the Greedy Souls and the Portuguese lads, which meant only Sunshine Machine really had a clear focus here – to simply not lose.
Mambo rolls back the clock with a lot of rope-walking ahead of a lucha armdrag to Santos, while a Combo Meal almost ended things in a hurry. Problem was, that much-needed one-track mind from Sunshine Machine left them vulnerable as a Midas Touch from Santos left Mambo laying, before Francisco’s hubris cost him.
Greedy Souls tried to nick the pin on Francisco, but to no avail as Santos broke up the pin… but the Welsh lads took control, focusing on Oskar with a Hospital Pass slingshot Bossman slam, while TK Cooper took the Line Out double-team slam. A Soul Destroyer looks to follow on Oskar, but it’s countered as Francisco and Santos hit the ring to try and steal a win.
Yuto Nakashima clears house on Santos and Francisco, before Sunshine Machine took over as Mambo dove off of TK’s shoulders onto one pile, while a flip senton from TK took out the other half of the match… before Brendan White was rolled inside as a headbutt and a Designated Driver ensured Sunshine Machine had at least one more ride left… and it’d be a trip to the Copperbox for them! The tensions continue to rise, and it’ll be the proverbial death or glory for TK and Mambo in two weeks’ time. ***¼
We’ve got some afters as the three losing teams got into a scrap, but it ended up four-on-two against Young Blood until Joshua James ran out to help even things up… followed by Sha Samuels. Something tells me we’ll have an eight-man tag at the Copperbox!
El Barbaro Cavernario was announced for September’s British J Cup in Stevenage – he was involved in 2019’s tournament, going out in the first round to Robbie Eagles.
Zozaya vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
A rematch from Raw Deal in Stevenage saw RKJ look to continue his run of wins – RKJ’s not lost a singles match since falling to Anthony Ogogo back in February… and we’ve got a rare donation to the swear jar from potty mouth Andy Quildan before the bell even went.
A tentative start saw Zozaya try to grapple with RKJ, but a big dropkick caught Zozaya coming off the ropes as the former champion struck first. Despite a brief response, RKJ keeps up with the big hits as a Tower of London out of the corner kept the Spaniard down, before some chops by the ropes led to the ol’ Vinny Jones.
It remained one-way traffic from RKJ as he eventually took Zozaya outside for a draping DDT off of the guard rails… but back inside there’s fresh hope for Zozaya as he connected with a rolling thunder dropkick, before shoulder charges trapped RKJ in the corner ahead of an overhead throw coming out of it.
Popping up from a rebound German suplex, Zozaya’s leaping kick swatted away a springboard moonsault as RKJ looked to catch everyone unawares… but it’s Zozaya who remained on top, taking RKJ outside ahead of a springboard body press, before an attempted powerbomb on the ramp ended with Zozaya eating a back body drop instead.
Brawling to the back was a bad idea as Zozaya just sprinted back through the curtain to boot RKJ ahead of a Destroyer off the stage. It led to a nasty spill as RKJ rebounded back towards the ring… before a shooting star press back inside went awry as Zozaya landed awkwardly, seemingly knocking RKJ out on the landing as this one ended with an audible – and with a thankfully-responsive RKJ being helped by medics to the back. Technically a win for Zozaya, but not in the way anyone would have wanted.
Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Championship: Nina Samuels vs. Dani Luna (c)
Samuels was accompanied by the rest of the Cut Throat Collective to the ring, which led to the obvious numerical disadvantage for the champion, which became a thorn in Luna’s side from the off.
Samuels was able to capitalise on that throughout, but Luna was never too far behind… only for the rest of the Collective to swarm as the referee was distracted. A Curt Hennig-esque neck flip, then a low dropkick kept the one-way traffic going, but the crowd never really seemed to be on board here – not helped by this match seemingly being used by some for an intermission.
Luna finally made a comeback, booting Nina away off the ropes, while a snap powerbomb almost got the win… Samuels finds her way back in as she looked to powerbomb Luna out of the corner, before a trip up top ended with Luna pulling Nina down by the hair. Fair’s fair and all that.
The rest of the Collective swarm to save Samuels from an elevated German suplex, but again the numbers allowed Nina to attack from behind, leading to an ushigoroshi for a near-fall. Back on it, a back body drop and a powerbomb out of the corner got Nina closer to the win, before an Alabama Slam and a sliding lariat from Luna led to… her getting tripped up in the ropes.
Rather than call for a DQ, the ref ejects the rest of the Collective… but they didn’t go quietly, or even at all, as they rushed back from the stage towards the ring as Safire Reed tried to get involved. She eats that elevated German suplex from the outside in, before one quick flurry led to Samuels escaping a Luna Landing, only to get folded into a pinning predicament for the three-count. This one heated up real well by the end – but with Luna still having a bigger, albeit mystery opponent at the Copperbox, this one felt more like a nuisance of a title defence than one that the crowd felt was a serious threat. ***
Post-match, Luna bailed through the crowd as the Cut Throat Collective (or is it society? That definitely sounded a better name) hung back to take shots at Dani Luna… then address the unanswered challenge for a 5-on-5 match at the Copperbox. One-by-one, Kanji, Debbie Keitel and Rhio came through the crowd to offer a response… but the numbers still aren’t on their side, before Nightshade made her return to chase away the crew… and put Alex Windsor through a table to get a measure of revenge for Stevenage.
Now, that’s still 5 on 4, so unless Dani Luna’s next challenger is a member of the collective, we’ve not got quite got a full squad!
Robbie X vs. Donovan Dijak
This one was set up in Coventry when Dijak attacked Robbie X… and given that Robbie X lost his Cruiserweight scramble qualifier (and has been booked for CMLL in Mexico on the same weekend as the Copperbox), this is effectively his “big match” in Rev Pro for August.
Robbie dives onto Dijak to jump-start things as he looked to make short work of the man who was getting heckled under his old “T-Bar” name. A lariat changed Robbie’s plans somewhat though, as was Dijak catching Robbie’s dive as the former cruiserweight champion ended up getting lobbed into the front row. Bye-bye safety deposit.
Back inside, Dijak continued to lay waste to Robbie, chucking him across the ring with release vertical suplexes like Robbie was nothing. They eventually backfire as Robbie suplexed him into the buckles before breaking into his usual arsenal with a Beyblade kick and a Molly Go Round… while a missile dropkick to the back took Dijak into the buckles.
A springboard moonsault DDT nearly does it as Robbie dug into the Rey Mysterio Jr. playbook, before an X-Claimation was easily blocked. In response, Dijak plants Robbie with a chokebomb, before a big boot was ducked as Robbie somehow hoisted up the big man for a Finlay roll.
Dijak ducks some running kicks before almost kicking Robbie’s head clean off his shoulders… and while Robbie was able to make one more comeback, including getting a near-fall from a Spiral Tap, another X-Claimation was again caught and turned into the Feast Your Eyes for the win. A valiant effort in defeat for Robbie, whose win-loss record is in need of some work after recent outings, but on the day Dijak was just too much for him. ***½
Post-match, Dijak called for the mic – and was interrupted by a video promo from Gabe Kidd, taking shots at Dijak’s WWE departure. It led to a challenge for the Copperbox, with Dijak accepting – but not before he put over Shawn Michaels, then likened Kidd’s role in the Bullet Club to Disco Inferno’s in the nWo. And now I suddenly want to see this as a disco ladder match…
Trevor Lee vs. Luke Jacobs
Before we even got going, things exploded as Connor Mills came through the crowd to attack Ethan Allen, who’d accompanied Luke to ringside. A huge pull-apart brawl kept reigniting, leading to Ethan diving off the walkway onto Mills… before both were escorted to the back, only to emerge one more time, which led to Mills seemingly rolling his ankle as they fought back towards ringside.
When the match finally got underway, there wasn’t much in the way of niceties as Jacobs and Lee traded chops early on, before a clothesline from Lee took things outside for… a blocked apron PK that ended with Lee getting dumped on his head.
Staying on the outside, Lee kicks Jacobs into a chair before he ran into an exploder into the guard rails. Back inside, things remained even as we went back to chops and elbows, with Luke gradually piling on the pressure. A Frankensteiner from Lee created an opening, as did a Shining Wizard, before he finally connected with an apron PK as Jacobs had bailed to the outside.
Lee mounted up some unanswered elbows on Jacobs, who finally struck back as the pair went back-and-forth by the ropes, leading to a wicked lariat from Luke. A backflip into a deadlift German suplex from Lee almost won it in response, before Jacobs pulled out the big guns, blasting Lee with a headbutt and a folding powerbomb, only to get caught with the Collision Course moonsault/fallaway slam out of nowhere.
Having survived that scare though, Luke had to avoid being pinned with a crucifix, before a piledriver and a pair of lariats finally gave him the win. ***¾
Post-match, Jacobs took the mic and said that at the Copperbox his era would begin… before laying into Michael Oku for “wanting to be All Elite” as the champion was layering up distraction after distraction ahead of the match.
AEW American Championship: Michael Oku vs. MJF (c)
On paper, this was a polarising main event – which led to a molten crowd just for the entrances. MJF was knee deep into the shtick as he came out wrapped in the Stars and Stripes, wearing the throwback Hulk Hogan red-and-yellow… while his pre-match mic work, which had many lines from Real American built into it, didn’t feel as rote as it has. Well, save for the moment the cogs turned a “fish and chips” chant into an insult.
Having had Amira banished from ringside, MJF got things going with his Hulk Hogan routine, throwing in some tactics like an eye rake before he missed his take on the Hogan legdrop. Oku found an opening, but got crotched on the top rope as MJF stopped Oku from going airborne.
Oku spent large parts of the match on the defensive, exacerbated with MJF grabbing the ropes on an abdominal stretch… which was eventually broken up by ref Oscar Harding. It’s an oldie but a goodie… which eventually led to an opening that Oku was able to build upon as he dropped MJF with a DDT.
Heading up top, Oku went for a frog splash, but MJF rolled into the corner – a tactic that would repeat throughout the match. A miss on a springboard moonsault shuts down Oku though, as MJF would then add high-impact offence using an Alabama Slam and a spinebuster to chip away at Oku’s resiliency.
Looking for a springboard, MJF jars his knee on the landing as Oku took advantage with a Quebrada of his own… only for another attempt at a frog splash to end with MJF rolling to the outside… and into the path of a Fosbury flop. Another avoidance of the frog splash sees MJF bait Oku into the corner, sidestepping a running dropkick as the challenger crashed and burned into the buckles.
Recovering, Oku goes for a half crab, playing off of the tweaked knee as Oku wrenched back… and almost forced a submission. After making it to the ropes, MJF bit Oku ahead of an apron tombstone, which was the precursor for MJF to scream at the ref to count the challenger out. Of course, Oku beats the count and was able to make some more inroads… this time catching MJF with a long-distance frog splash despite the champion having thought he’d rolled his way to safety.
The ref’s wiped out as Oku went for a half crab… and after MJF hit a low blow, then grabbed his belt, out came Luke Jacobs to level things up. If your idea of levelling things up was to crack Oku with a lariat, before laying out MJF with a belt shot. Once the ref came to, Oku got a near-fall from a cover, before going up for a frog splash… but MJF got the knees up, then hobbled his way into a brainbuster for the clear three-count. Your mileage will absolutely vary on this – very few would have bought Oku as winning the title and upending AEW’s Wembley plans, but they gave it a good shot – and managed to weave it into the existing Copperbox storyline. I just wish that they’d not had Oku lose this close to that match… ***¼
Post-match, Amira came out to check on Oku… before MJF spat on Oku and laid him out with another belt shot. MJF keeps going, pulling up Oku for a Tiger Driver, before he threatened Amira… which drew out Will Ospreay to an ear-splitting roar to make the save. MJF bails as Ospreay closed out the show with a promo ahead of their match at Wembley in two weeks…
Summer Sizzler felt like a suitable throwback to the York Hall shows of old – with a wacky mix of imports that (for the most part) helped build more towards the Copperbox. I’m still unconvinced over the timing of the Oku/MJF match – considering the result can very easily be painted as “secondary AEW champion eclipses record-setting Rev Pro champion.” I wonder how the crowd would have taken it, were someone from “the other company” replacing MJF, perhaps with an Ethan Page in the spot. All in all, while Summer Sizzler was lacking a “notebook” match, it was a strong go-home show – and perhaps the last of Rev Pro that most will see ahead of the Copperbox. 7/10, I hated it. (I kid!)